Bitcoin News Summary – June 18, 2018

The US Securities and Exchange Commission stated that they don’t consider Bitcoin or Ethereum as securities, renouncing any claim to oversight of these coins. However, the SEC regards the majority of ICOs as securities, and thus within their regulatory scope. ICOs will need approval from the SEC in order to accept funds from Americans.

Coinbase, the largest Bitcoin exchange, banned Gab, the free speech social network, from their platform. The ban was received with scrutiny in the Bitcoin community that claimed “Coinbase is a biased gatekeeper that just gave Bitcoin’s openness a giant middle finger by banning people they don’t like.”

Online retailer Overstock revealed the extent of its weekly cryptocurrency revenues. The firm’s chairman said that between $68 and $120 thousand per week is received through Bitcoin. While this represents only a tiny fraction of the company’s takings, Overstock shares jumped 11% on the news.

Research firm, Greenwich Associates revealed that the financial services industry is spending in excess of $1.7 billion per year to research and implement blockchain technology. This number is up 67% percent from last year and only covers those banks and firms which Greenwich investigated.

In Germany, a survey conducted by Postbank and shared recently has shown that nearly one-third of Germans consider cryptocurrency as a good investment opportunity. The German bank polled 3,100 people during the first quarter of this year.